AFA Members, Allies Gain Ground in Fight to #DenyNAI

AFA-CWA members have taken persistent action to oppose DOT approval of the Norwegian Air (NAI) application for a foreign air carrier permit, a scheme set to ultimately outsource our jobs. Thousands of AFA-CWA members have rallied in force for the #DenyNAI campaign, visiting your Senators and Representatives on Capitol Hill, making phone calls, sending emails, Tweeting and spreading the word on Facebook.

If a permit were granted by DOT, NAI operations would subvert a key labor provision of the U.S.-EU Open Skies agreement, as well as Norwegian labor law by certificating its operations in Ireland while hiring crews from Asia and never flying through Ireland. If the DOT allows NAI to set up a “flag of convenience” business model that shops countries for certification, it will open the door to every other airline to do the same and lead to the destruction of the U.S. aviation industry, good U.S. jobs and all of the safety standards our unions have achieved.

On November 19, thirty-five AFA activists representing eleven AFA-member airlines visited their Congressional representatives to urge them to protect Flight Attendant jobs. At the same time, hundreds of AFA members made phone calls and created a loud presence in social media that could not be ignored. Representatives Chris Collins of New York and Albio Sires of New Jersey spearheaded a letter to DOT Secretary Foxx, urging him to deny the NAI application. When AFA activists arrived in Washington, DC only 50 members of Congress had agreed to sign on to the Collin/Sires letter. By the end of the week we had achieved a total 188 bi-partisan signatures. Read the Letter >

At the same time we urged Senators to include a provision in a year end funding bill that would mirror language unanimously adopted by the House to require the DOT to adhere to U.S. law and trade agreements when considering a foreign air carrier permit. We continue to press for this Senate action.

U.S. and European transportation union leaders met in Washington, DC, on November 24 and issued a joint statement pointing out that, if the NAI plan is approved, “economic gains will be few and short lived, while the long-term job losses will be staggering.” Read the full statement >

This week, AFA joined other AFL-CIO U.S. transportation unions to call on the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to include the language requiring foreign air carrier permits to comply with labor standards in the EU-U.S. Open Skies Agreement.

Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of our Flight Attendant family, we urged Congress to act and expect that they will take action on the appropriations bills next week.

AFA Calls for Removal of Knives in Secure Areas

Following the November 25 Newsday/News 12 Long Island story about steak knives in the secure area of JFK airport, AFA immediately called upon the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and NY/NJ Port Authority to remove this security threat and protect crew and passengers.

The story revealed that large knives were provided in high-end steak houses in the secure area of JFK airport, without any effort to keep those knives from leaving the restaurant.

Be alert in the secure areas of your airports and report with pictures if you encounter this threat.